- Email: [email protected]
Tackling global food insecurity
Editorial
Tackling global food insecurity
Still Pictures
The printed journal includes an image merely for illustration See Series page 608
Later this month, the first batch of seeds will be stored in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to ensure that should a major catastrophe ever hit the planet, survivors should at least have access to a seed bank and so may be able to grow food. Eventually, over 200 000 crop varieties will be hidden in this Arctic ice sanctuary deep in a mountain near the village of Longyearbyen, built by the Norwegian Government for the benefit of mankind. And last week, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $20 million grant to develop hardy rice crops to help poor farmers cope with the effects of climate change. While these visionary philanthropic works are admirable, what about doing something to help the millions of people throughout the world who are starving right now? The World Food Programme continues to raise awareness of current food insecurity emergencies. Last week’s target was Tajikistan, where the coldest winter in five decades and rising world food prices have resulted in a disastrous situation. If past experience is anything to go by, the Programme’s pleas for emergency funding will fall on
deaf donor ears, and many people in Tajikistan will starve. So why can’t the same attention, energy, innovation, and financial and technical resources, reserved to mitigate the effects of potential future disasters, be channelled into tackling current hunger crises? Although not immediately relievable by a scientific quick-fix, it should not be beyond the bounds of possibility to redistribute the abundance of global food resources and tackle wider socioeconomic factors often involved in food security issues. The final article in our undernutrition Series clearly outlines what needs to be done. The global architecture of the international nutrition system needs to be radically reformed and become more accountable and inclusive. And everyone from major donors to the editors of academic journals all have their part to play. It is absurd and profoundly unjust that, as many countries are putting their resources into tackling the obesity epidemic, many people throughout the world are continuing to starve to death. We must all act now and turn the Series’ realistic recommendations into robust action. ■ The Lancet
WHO
Six steps away from averting a billion deaths
For the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008 see http://www.who.int/ tobacco/mpower/en/index.html
532
Americans are fond of complaining that they are “born free and taxed to death”. A new report from WHO recommends a public policy that would increase one particular form of taxation even further—a move that would effectively tax citizens everywhere to life instead. Increasing taxes on tobacco products is a proven method of reducing their consumption and is one of the six core interventions in the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008. The global burden of tobacco-related harms is enormous. The leading cause of preventable death throughout the world, tobacco use killed 100 million people in the 20th century. If this trend continues unchecked, the yearly death toll by 2030 will be more than 8 million. That is a total of 1 billion deaths in the 21st century. Even worse, tobacco use is common in the poorest populations, with 80% of tobacco-related deaths occurring in developing countries. The world’s smokers are now concentrated in only ten countries; China and India together account for more than 40% of the total. These facts have not gone unnoticed by the tobacco industry. Faced with increasing restrictions
on smoking in the developed world, the manufacturers of cigarettes and other tobacco products have turned enthusiastically to countries where there is a huge—and growing—demand for their deadly wares. The WHO report was financed through a foundation established by New York City mayor Michael R Bloomberg. It recommends that all countries implement a six-point programme called MPOWER. The acronym stands for monitoring tobacco use, Protecting people from secondhand smoke, offering help to quit, warning about tobacco’s effects, enforcing bans on advertising and sponsorship, and raising taxes on tobacco products. Bloomberg, who has successfully implemented such efforts in the USA’s largest city, points out that these interventions are cheap when compared with the cost of smoking to society. The six-point plan is a clear roadmap, supported by country-specific data. Putting it into action may be the world’s best hope for averting what could otherwise become one of the greatest disasters in the history of public health. ■ The Lancet www.thelancet.com Vol 371 February 16, 2008
Tackling global food insecurity
Still Pictures
The printed journal includes an image merely for illustration See Series page 608
Later this month, the first batch of seeds will be stored in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to ensure that should a major catastrophe ever hit the planet, survivors should at least have access to a seed bank and so may be able to grow food. Eventually, over 200 000 crop varieties will be hidden in this Arctic ice sanctuary deep in a mountain near the village of Longyearbyen, built by the Norwegian Government for the benefit of mankind. And last week, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $20 million grant to develop hardy rice crops to help poor farmers cope with the effects of climate change. While these visionary philanthropic works are admirable, what about doing something to help the millions of people throughout the world who are starving right now? The World Food Programme continues to raise awareness of current food insecurity emergencies. Last week’s target was Tajikistan, where the coldest winter in five decades and rising world food prices have resulted in a disastrous situation. If past experience is anything to go by, the Programme’s pleas for emergency funding will fall on
deaf donor ears, and many people in Tajikistan will starve. So why can’t the same attention, energy, innovation, and financial and technical resources, reserved to mitigate the effects of potential future disasters, be channelled into tackling current hunger crises? Although not immediately relievable by a scientific quick-fix, it should not be beyond the bounds of possibility to redistribute the abundance of global food resources and tackle wider socioeconomic factors often involved in food security issues. The final article in our undernutrition Series clearly outlines what needs to be done. The global architecture of the international nutrition system needs to be radically reformed and become more accountable and inclusive. And everyone from major donors to the editors of academic journals all have their part to play. It is absurd and profoundly unjust that, as many countries are putting their resources into tackling the obesity epidemic, many people throughout the world are continuing to starve to death. We must all act now and turn the Series’ realistic recommendations into robust action. ■ The Lancet
WHO
Six steps away from averting a billion deaths
For the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008 see http://www.who.int/ tobacco/mpower/en/index.html
532
Americans are fond of complaining that they are “born free and taxed to death”. A new report from WHO recommends a public policy that would increase one particular form of taxation even further—a move that would effectively tax citizens everywhere to life instead. Increasing taxes on tobacco products is a proven method of reducing their consumption and is one of the six core interventions in the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008. The global burden of tobacco-related harms is enormous. The leading cause of preventable death throughout the world, tobacco use killed 100 million people in the 20th century. If this trend continues unchecked, the yearly death toll by 2030 will be more than 8 million. That is a total of 1 billion deaths in the 21st century. Even worse, tobacco use is common in the poorest populations, with 80% of tobacco-related deaths occurring in developing countries. The world’s smokers are now concentrated in only ten countries; China and India together account for more than 40% of the total. These facts have not gone unnoticed by the tobacco industry. Faced with increasing restrictions
on smoking in the developed world, the manufacturers of cigarettes and other tobacco products have turned enthusiastically to countries where there is a huge—and growing—demand for their deadly wares. The WHO report was financed through a foundation established by New York City mayor Michael R Bloomberg. It recommends that all countries implement a six-point programme called MPOWER. The acronym stands for monitoring tobacco use, Protecting people from secondhand smoke, offering help to quit, warning about tobacco’s effects, enforcing bans on advertising and sponsorship, and raising taxes on tobacco products. Bloomberg, who has successfully implemented such efforts in the USA’s largest city, points out that these interventions are cheap when compared with the cost of smoking to society. The six-point plan is a clear roadmap, supported by country-specific data. Putting it into action may be the world’s best hope for averting what could otherwise become one of the greatest disasters in the history of public health. ■ The Lancet www.thelancet.com Vol 371 February 16, 2008